


An Unwanted Gift

by RelicIron



Series: Mercenary [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Force Sensitivity, M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Relationship, local man who just finished having a break down has another one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelicIron/pseuds/RelicIron
Summary: The night after Valkorian’s death, Arcann, Lana, and Senya are woken up by a disturbance in the Force. It turns out that his father’s residence in his mind has changed the commander in ways none of them could have anticipated.
Relationships: Arcann/Male Bounty Hunter (Star Wars)
Series: Mercenary [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833691
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	An Unwanted Gift

**Author's Note:**

> This was vaguely inspired by the cut dialogue in the game where Satele tells the non-Force users that they’re Force-sensitive now. More the idea than the scene itself. Also no, he doesn’t end up with usable powers, I just figured there would be some spikes before he adjusts. By the time everything settles he mostly just has some passive precognition, like when to duck and when to fire.

When Arcann awakens, it’s with a lingering sense of panic.

He doesn’t remember what exactly the dream had been about, only that it had been as unfamiliar as it was vivid.

The chronometer showed it was the middle of the night. He’d barely slept more than a couple hours, not including the ill-fated sleep he’d gotten on the shuttle ride back from Zakuul. Seeing the commander’s nightmares wasn’t exactly restful.

With rest being illusive, he was considering what to do for the remainder of the night when he feels a strange ripple in the Force.

One of his old teachers had likened the Force to a piece of fine silk stretched tight in the air, and users to steel marbles rolling about on the surface. It was her own way of illustrating how Force-sensitives felt each other’s presence. A series of ever moving divots in the Force as the marbles rolled around on the silk, attracting each other when they got too close and sensing others in the distance by the way the silk bends and warps under their weight.

Like marbles, users were smooth and moved fluidly with the Force.

But this… this was _**jagged**_. A mass of broken glass instead of a ball, snagging and pulling at the threads of the silk and juddering through Arcann as the Force shudders from the unnatural movement.

He’s out of his cot in seconds, throwing on the lowest layer of his armor and grabbing his lightsaber. When he barrels into the hall, he realizes, to his horror, that the anomaly is coming from the commander’s room.

It’s not his father, it can’t be, he would **know** if it was. It feels nothing like him, but his mind still catches and stumbles over the combination of ‘the commander’ and ‘Force disturbance’.

He’s not even sure what he’s going to do as he reaches the door to Vega’s quarters, he certainly doesn’t have the passcode, but not a moment later he feels the familiar presence of his mother and Lana rushing over.

They have the same fearful looks on their faces that he’s certain is on his own.

“You felt the-”

“Yes, now _move_!” Lana hisses.

He jumps out of the way and she quickly unlocks the door and snaps on the lights.

All three of them enter to see various small objects floating several inches above where they should be resting, and Caden curled into a tight ball in the center of his bed with the sheets twisted around him.

They approach cautiously, the earlier demonstration of ‘why you shouldn’t wake the commander from a nightmare’ still fresh in their minds, but it’s clear that this one is worse.

His fingers are gripping tight in his hair, forehead pressed into this knees, elbows clamped on either side of his legs with his feet tucked up underneath, and even from several paces away they can tell he’s shaking.

A low growl rumbles out of him and the hovering objects waiver and climb a little higher into the air alongside the deep creaking of some of the heavier furniture threatening to follow.

The twisted, ragged _pull_ in the Force is honestly uncomfortable this close, and there’s no doubt it’s coming from Caden directly.

Lana is the one who dares to wake him, finally, though she’s not fool enough to touch him like Arcann did.

It takes several increasingly loud repetitions of his name before Caden flinches awake and everything around the room drops with a crash.

His head snaps up to stare blearily at Lana before registering Arcann and Senya behind her.

“Wha-”

“Commander, look at me.”

Still too out of it to question her, he focuses on Lana.

“I’m going to touch you, is that alright?”

He blinks dumbly before nodding and she reaches out to hold his face still and pry one eye open.

“Are you fully awake?” she asks as she presses fingers against his pulse.

“Ye- yeah? What are… why’s everyone…?”

“You were causing a bit of a commotion in the Force. Enough that we all had to come investigate.”

Fear creeps into his eyes, “Is it… Valkorian?”

“No,” Arcann answers, and he can feel his mother shaking her head too, “We would have sensed it if it was.”

“Then how-?”

“That’s what we need to find out,” Lana says grimly. “Can you sit up for me?”

Caden grunts as he finally unfolds himself. His uncovered feet clack as they hit the floor and he carefully straightens his sleep shirt and pants from where they’d twisted around him. The paler green of his throat is starting to flush under their scrutiny and Arcann clamps down on their new bond even tighter, the last thing Caden needs right now is for Arcann to peek at what he’s feeling.

“I’m rather out of my depth here, but whatever is happening clearly needs to be addressed. We should go see Sana-Rae.”

He looks up at her warily, “Now?”

“Of course, now,” she scoffs, “Do you need a moment to get ready or are you fine like that?”

All four of them are half-dressed, in too much of a hurry earlier to do anything more than the barest attempt at armor, so Caden’s sleeping clothes are hardly out of place.

“Nah, I’m… I’m fine,” he says roughly. Fingers massage over his forehead for a minute before he finally brings himself to stand, and they all file out into the hall and down to the enclave.

To their surprise, Sana-Rae is already kneeling in her customary place in the center of the room. They’re only a few steps away when she opens her eyes and rises to her feet with perfect poise.

“I had a vision that I would be needed here, and the unrest when I awoke aligned with it,” she says, before focusing on the commander.

She doesn’t frown, just tilts her head curiously, as if Caden had a different haircut instead of suddenly manifesting Force powers.

“Please, sit.”

The commander crosses over with her to the meditation area and takes a seat on one of the cushions there across from Sana-Rae. His hands are trembling.

“May I see into you?” she asks gently. And though Caden looks uncomfortable, he nods, but not before a quick darting glance at Arcann.

She would notice their bond.

He doubted it was the cause of this, but there was little to be done about it. He hadn’t known her for long, but already Sana-Rae had proven to be disturbingly perceptive, with any luck she would not mention the connection unless it was necessary.

“Calm, breathe deeply, in and out. You are safe.”

Caden’s eyes slip shut and he seems to forcibly relax his muscles as she continues to coax him into a more receptive state of mind.

He’s not entirely successful, but it’s apparently enough for her to finally slip into his mind as the Force ripples fluidly around her and ravels around him.

Arcann can feel movement on the other end of the bond. Muted, with how hard he’s shielding himself, but definitely noticeable. A foreign spider testing one of the strands of his web and jostling him. It’s unnerving, but she does not resurface with accusations, so he tries to take comfort in that.

It’s several very long minutes of waiting before the search ends with her coming back up with a sigh, and Caden returning with a harsh gasp.

He leans forward and braces his hands on the floor to catch his breath. The shaking is worse.

“He has been opened to the Force,” she says with quiet fascination.

“What do you mean?” Lana asks warily.

“The ghost, Valkorian, he wore a hole in the veil at the back of the commander’s mind. It is old.”

“How is that possible? We would have known if he’d suddenly become Force-sensitive,” his mother said sternly, but Sana-Rae shakes her head.

“The ghost placed himself in front of it, covering the tear he created. There would not have been anything there to notice. But when he was defeated, his essence slowly dispersed and no longer blocked off the commander’s new sensitivity.”

Caden spits a curse and rubs over his eyes.

“Can you tell what his capabilities are now?” Lana asks.

“No,” she replies, “His connection is artificially created and so unstable. I have never seen anything like it, but I believe it will take time for the Force to equalize around him, and for his own mind to accept and acclimate to the new opening. To create an entryway out of a broken wall.”

“Bastard’s dead and he still can’t stop screwin’ with me,” Caden growls venomously where he’s still sitting on the ground, “just… _fuck_!”

He exhales a shaky breath before running his fingers through his hair, swiping it back off his face and fixing Sana-Rae with a sharp look.

“Can we undo it?”

“Why in the world would you _want_ to?” Lana asks incredulously.

It’s not an unreasonable question. Most people on Zakuul would have killed to suddenly become Force-sensitive. The benefits are staggering with few drawbacks.

Caden scowls.

“’Cause I was doin’ just fine without it, ‘n I don’t want _anything_ Valkorian gave me!” he snarls, before shivering violently, “Fuck, it feels like you all got meat hooks in me and are yankin’.”

Arcann winces internally. They’re all used to the pull of other Force-users, but with the sharp edges of Caden’s newly discovered presence it must feel unbearable.

“It took a massive amount of power to create this connection, to sever it again would take even more,” Sana-Rae explains gently, to answer his previous question.

“In other words, no, I’m afraid this is your new normal. At least until you stabilize,” Lana says.

Caden growls and buries his face in his hands.

“Well there are worse places to be, at least. We’ve likely amassed the most varied collection of Force-users in the galaxy, so you’ll have your pick of teachers when the time comes, assuming you’re strong enough to need one,” she says with a sigh.

“And you’ll have us,” his mother adds, “We can help steady you until you adjust. It’s the least we can do after everything you’ve gone through on our account.” And both he and Lana nod in agreement with her.

Caden stills for a moment before groaning through his hands, “Ah hell, you guys feel freaky enough, how bad ‘s it gonna get when all the other Force people start wanderin’ around in the morning?”

Lana makes a face, “Perhaps… it will be best for you to take some time off, at least for a few days until you get more used to the sensation. Maybe stay on your ship? The distance may help and we can check on you from time to time.”

“It’s not like you don’t deserve the rest,” his mother chuckles.

He sighs and lets his hands drop, suddenly looking a decade older than he really is.

“Never fuckin’ ends, huh?” he murmurs before shaking himself. He climbs to his feet and huffs, plastering a tired smile on his face.

“Think I’m gonna get some caf, maybe grab a few things before headin’ out,” he turns and walks away abruptly, throwing a “See ya later” over his shoulder as he exits the enclave. All three of them watch him go with worried expressions, and Arcann wonders just how often he hides behind that good-natured smile.


End file.
